1. Unit Final Presentation
Meredith Grady
Michelle Wright

2.  This unit would take place (hopefully) after a
field trip to George Washington’s birthplace in
Westmoreland County.
 The inspiration for the unit is the garden at the
birthplace.
 The twist is using a zombie apocalypse
 http://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=http%3A%2F%2Fchannel.nationalgeographic.com%2Fseries%
2Fmysterious-science-episodes%2F5710%2FOverview&session_token=pa-
reqePGcuuasibXhNWT_EFyvR8MTM0MTM1MzM1NUAxMzQxMjY2OTU1

3.  What is included in this presentation is not the
entire unit.
 We followed one particular thread of our
overall unit.

4.  Discuss what a zombie apocalypse
is. Students will be asked if anyone would like
to volunteer to lead this discussion; if not,
teacher will lead.
 read and discuss a flash fiction story about a
possible zombie apocalypse - see URL below
(story is just under 1200 words)

5. Zombie Apocalypse questions:
 What is an apocalypse?
 What is a zombie?
 What is a zombie apocalypse?
 What movies, songs, tv shows, etc deal with zombie
apocalypses?
 What is appealing about this genre?
 Do you ever think about something like this happening?
 What do you think it would take to survive something like
this?

6.  Flash fiction zombie apocalypse story questions:
What is your initial response to the story? What stood out to you?
 What is your initial response to the story? What stood out to you?
 Did you like it? Why or why not?
 How does this type of story compare to other genres we read
earlier in the semester?
 Do any of you read or write this type of story?
 How would you describe Bill, the main character?
 The setting in this story was much more modern than I had
expected. What did you all think of that? Was it what you
expected when I told you what type of story this was? Why or
why not?
 What do words like “still moist” or “bits of dead flesh” add to the
story?
 What are some of the political allusions in this story? Why do you
think the author added them?

7.  http://disperser.wordpress.com/2011/10/17/
flash-fiction-no-3-zombie-apocalypse-almost/
(story is approximately 1200 words long/
allow thirty minutes for reading and
discussion)

8.  Students will take notes during flash fiction
coverage
 Students will write a flash fiction story as a
class incorporating elements of Walden and
zombie apocalypse

9.  Minifiction or the short short story in the classroom
Submitted by georginahudson on 13 November, 2010 - 20:06
Have you ever heard of “mini-fiction”? “flash-fiction”? “the short short story”?
Have you ever felt the need to move beyond the one-off news article reading lessons?
Have you tried to squeeze readers – either original stories written for learners or
adaptations of well-known books – in your class syllabus?
If the answer to the question above is yes, have you had the chance to exploit the
material at length?
I particularly love reading and have attempted to include fiction – especially readers - in
my classes.
The feeling I usually get is that I’m overlooking the material, asking learners about the
characters, the plot, their personal impression but without really finding the time to
work on the book in depth.
Mini-fiction is another tool we have at hand to provide learners with the opportunity to
read for pleasure in the classroom and to give teachers the chance to exploit the material
fully - concentrating on both content and form within a tight schedule.

10.  So what’s mini-fiction?
It’s a new form of writing found under many names; flash fiction,
sudden fiction, nanofiction, microfiction or the short short story.
All of these have one thing in common: their extreme brevity,
minifiction´s defining characteristic.
Other features which characterise mini-fiction are:
ü intertextuality (an author’s borrowing and transformation of
a prior text or a reader’s referencing of one text in reading
another)
ü implicit meaning
ü humour and irony
ü memorable quality
ü abrupt beginning
ü unexpected ending

11.  How can we use mini-fiction in the classroom?
Like with any other written text you’ve dealt with in class, you can engage your students
in:
ü Pre-reading tasks: predictions based on the title/pictures/first line, discussion
about the topic, raising awareness about the author, feeding students information about
the author
ü While-reading tasks: skimming (activities designed to find out the gist – general
information – for example questions/true or false/gaps) and scanning (reading quickly
through the text with a more definite purpose or to find specific pieces of information.
E.g – timetables, names, dates, the order action takes place, pieces of vocabulary and
grammar)
ü After reading tasks: drawing conclusions about the story, discussing the best part of
the story, talking about the best character, writing a review, retelling, discussing
intertextuality in the short short story, role-plays, etc.
In short, minifiction may give both teachers and students a sense of achievement out of
reading a story which is original and fun and whose length makes it simple to focus on
both the storyline and specific language items.
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/georginahudson/minifiction-or-short-short-
story-classroom

12.  Using the information from the minilesson, the
teacher and students will work together to
write a flash fiction story incorporating details
from the students’ Venn Diagrams comparing
humans and zombies and tying together the
class’s reading of the beans section of Walden
and the idea of the zombie apocalyse.

13.  participate in peer editing lesson using the
class’s flash fiction piece written on Day 2

14.  Using the Peer Edit with Perfection tutorial,
students will edit the class’s flash fiction story.

15.  Students will plot their own gardens
(referencing information completed during
homework for Day 1) using the Better Homes
and Gardens garden planner that they
registered for as homework- one per group
with teacher visiting each group to answer
questions or provide guidance

16.  This was the homework from Day 1 that is
referenced in Day 4’s lesson plan:
 Register for the Garden Planner needed for a
later assignment - students should use the
school’s address and whatever version of their
name they are comfortable putting on a
website
(http://www.bhg.com/gardening/design/nat
ure-lovers/welcome-to-plan-a-garden/)

17.  Students will work together to plot a post-
apocalyptic garden for their particular season
 Students know their focus is survival after an
apocalypse
 The teacher will monitor computer usage and
answer questions or offer suggestions as
students use the Better Homes and Gardens
website.

18.  As part of the group presentation discuss how
their season’s garden would help people
survive the zombie apocalypse. (note: add
questions in teacher’s notes that we want them
to answer)

19.  Students will be presenting their gardener’s
journals, another part of the unit that is not
covered in this presentation.

20.  As part of their presentations, students should
address the following questions:
 Did you discover any plants that had multiple
uses?
 If you had your garden as presented, could you
survive?
 What questions do you have that are still
unanswered about your garden?
 Would you eat what would be produced in your
garden?
 How would your garden help your family survive
a zombie apocalypse?